


Fire and Smoke

by Elivra



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Based on a random tumblr prompt, Eruris being old saps, M/M, barely any plot tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23993293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elivra/pseuds/Elivra
Summary: A dragon lays slumbering in a cave atop a mountain. A man goes to slay him.Rated T for atinyamount of violence.
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 15
Kudos: 85





	Fire and Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> So I thought I was on a writing block but a random prompt on tumblr fired my writing inspiration neurons and was 1.5k words down before I knew it! 
> 
> Based on a prompt sumbitted by @adhd-coyote to the [writing-prompt-s](https://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com/post/617116549882544128/youre-a-dragon-that-is-cursed-to-change-into-a) tumblr:
> 
>  _'You’re a dragon that is cursed to change into a human every night. One day a knight comes to slay you, and imagine their surprise when the dragon they’re about to stab vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving a defenseless human crouched in front of them.'_
> 
> So here's some fantasy Eruri in an ambiguous historical period!
> 
> Happy reading! <3

His day started like any other. A long, lazy flight above the clouds just after sunrise. Sleep. Picking on the sheep carcasses that he had amassed the previous night, then sleep some more. At one point in the afternoon his ears pricked with the sounds of human feet clambering over rocks far above his cave. He let them be. Sometimes, when he was in the right mood, he'd emerge from his cave, gleaming hot silver fury, and he’d scare the humans off his mountain. But not today. Today, he just wanted to rest.

The footsteps woke him again later. _Much_ later. He blinked against the slanting rays of the evening sun with his inner eyelid. The footsteps sounded closer. He snorted smoke out of scaly nostrils. Yet another thrillseeking fool. So tiresome.

Just as he rose up from his curled repose, he heard the sound of blade against scabbard, saw a lengthened shadow. This one was later than the rest. He needed to make this quick.

But then he was met with silence. He could hear the human breathing now — just one man, by the sound of it — but no other movement. Had he lost his nerve? Perhaps that was best. He had no patience with cowards, but he couldn't begrudge them their instinct to survive.

In a way, by hiding in his cave, by running away from his own flesh and blood and everyone he loved, he was a coward too.

The human still hadn't moved.

He snorted again, impatient. The dark silhouette on the ground was lengthening and he didn't have time for games.

 _~Have you made up your mind yet, knight?~_ He hissed.

A skittering of pebbles. Perhaps the human didn't know he could speak in this form.

"I was waiting for you, actually," the man said, his voice deep and clear. He didn't sound scared at all. "Thought perhaps you'd appreciate making the first move."

 _~How considerate of you~_ , he grumbled. ~ _I_ _f I did that, it would be my_ _only_ _move.~_

"How considerate of you," the man echoed, "for not doing it."

He snorted again irritably, the smoke escaping from the cave this time. This was one of the so-called 'clever' ones, then. He hated this kind.

_~Get started, knight, we don't have all day.~_

"Indeed we do not." He saw the shadow of the blade sweep towards the horizon, where the sun was beginning to set. "The hour is late, and I would see you first in all your magnificence, drake, before the sun leaves us."

 _~How poetic~_ , he sneered. ~ _But my patience wears thin. Get yourself away from here, knight-bard, while you can.~_

"Do you not want to fight me?"

_~Do you not want to live?~_

"Why would you spare my life?"

He felt anger stoke the flames within him. This was getting too irksome and a third of the sun had already sunk beyond the faraway hills.

 _~Enough. You tire me.~_ He growled, and twisted his way out of the opening in a blink, rearing up as he did and unfurling his wings to their full length to show his true power. The man looked tall and strong, but his jaw dropped and his dull helmet gleamed with the shifting light glimmering off his silver scales. His inner voice was smug as he rumbled, ~ _Prepare to die_.~

He should have paid more attention. As it were, the man's own smug response of "I did come prepared," only served to make him more angry, so he missed seeing the thick rope in his other hand. Just as he jabbed his long neck forward, the man feinted to the side, dropped his sword and tugged the rope with both hands, causing several rocks to rain down on him, trapping one of his legs.

And now he was _furious_.

 _~You think a few pebbles are enough to take_ _me_ _down?~_ He snarled.

Instead of answering, the man ran around him to the cliffside where he began to heave rocks off the cliff. And in a split second, it became apparent why.

The rocks had been tied to the ends of an enormous net. 

A net that had slid down unnoticed amidst the first rockfall, a surprisingly thick and heavy net that now held him pinned down. _No._ For the first time in a long time he felt panic. He had to get loose. _Now_.

The man was already bearing down upon him, sword raised. This was a horribly smart, quick plan of attack. He should should have paid more attention. He needed to end this. He opened his mouth to breathe fire, just as the blade swung down.

But no flames came, instead, his spine turned to ice: the sun had finally disappeared beneath the horizon.

The blade sliced between his scales.

The empty air inside his maws turned into an agonised shriek.

The man stumbled away, hands covering his ears over his helmet as he continued to scream. Pain — pure unadulterated pain that he still wasn't used to — burned through every inch of him. He could feel his scales wither away, his flesh sloughing off into smoke, his fangs and thorns and horns retracting painfully. And with all of this was the added sting of a newly bleeding wound.

The transformation, for all its agony, barely lasted a few moments, but he was often incapacitated for some time after, frozen breathless and nauseous. So now he lay crouched and defenseless. Weak.

"What sorcery is this, drake?" The man's voice rang in his ears, even as the taut ropes began to cut into his bare skin. Each rope was nearly as thick as his wrist. This was a formidable weapon, and he had been a _fool_ to not see it coming. Footsteps echoed through the dissipating smoke. "Where are you, monster?" The man called, and his voice only disoriented him further, still unable to move.

He grit his teeth, clutching the cut in his side. He could feel the blood slipping past his fingers and almost retched in disgust.

The footsteps stopped.

He waited, head bowed, powerless in pain. _Just end it already_ , he thought. _Make it quick, I've had enough—_

_"Levi?"_

That voice. Levi shot his head up instantly, heart thudding, ears ringing, breathless once more.

The knight took off his helmet and it landed by his feet with a low thud.

It _was_ him. That golden hair, those blue eyes. They were unmistakable.

"Levi?" Erwin repeated and Levi felt like he was stabbed anew by the pain in his voice.

"Erwin," he whispered, and Erwin stumbled forward, his sword raised. He flinched, but to his shock felt the ropes pinning him loosen with a few swipes of the sword, and then before he could even think to look up, felt himself being gathered into Erwin's arms, the leather and twill of his clothes harsh against his skin.

"You're alive," Erwin murmured, voice thick with tears. "You're alive. You're _alive_."

"Erwin," he sighed, his own voice trembling. He never thought — he didn't — he —

"I never thought I'd see you again," Erwin gasped, and when he leaned back, Levi could see the tears streaming down his stubbled cheeks. "I thought — _Gods_ , I thought I lost you forever—"

"Me too," Levi rasped, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "I—" His words cut off as he winced in pain, feeling another wave of blood drip down his side. Erwin looked down, horrified. “ _Oh_. Oh no, Levi, I— I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”

“S’alright,” Levi mumbled, trying to steady himself, but he was starting to tremble now.

“No I, I have medicine in my saddlebags but my horse is at the foot of the mount— I can go retrieve them—”

Levi grabbed his tunic with depleting strength. “I have supplies.” He pointed at his cave. “Inside.”

The look on Erwin’s face settled into one of determination. _This_ was a look Levi recognised, even years later. “Let me help you.”

Knowing it was pointless to resist, Levi leaned into Erwin’s firm grasp, and they both stumbled into the cave. Levi winced as they walked past the burnt bones he had piled against the entrance as a warning, but Erwin didn’t seem to notice or care. He said nothing as Levi led him past the large pit he slept in during the day, nary a word as he squeezed in with some difficulty behind him into the small crack in the rock wall that was the entrance to his nightly abode. He lit the torches and the candles as Levi hobbled over to his chair, brought over his medical supplies from the niche Levi pointed at.

Not a word as he washed and cleaned the wound. Only a deepening frown as he sewed the wound shut, tight-lipped as he bound the cloth around his waist and helped him into worn clothes.

Then they both stilled together, Levi leaning back in his chair, Erwin still kneeling before him.

And Levi couldn’t bear the silence any longer. “Say something.”

Erwin swallowed, and said nothing.

“Erwin—”

“I thought you were dead.” Erwin looked up at him, and his eyes were clear, bottomless pools. “I thought… I thought you were killed by a dragon.” And now it was Levi’s turn to stay silent, for he had no idea what to say. All he could think of were the days of their youth, when Levi listened to his every word, followed him everywhere, back when Erwin had been his entire world, back before he had learnt of a curse tainting his blood and his life had begun anew.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were gone,” Levi said bitterly. “Away on your training.”

“Why didn’t you come to me?” Again Levi said nothing. “Why didn’t you say _something_ , Levi, I thought you were _dead_ —”

“I was ashamed,” Levi blurted.

Erwin’s eyes widened. “ _Ashamed?_ Levi, I…” He leaned forward abruptly and grabbed the arms of his chair. “Do you know what I am now? Do you know what I do? I’m a _dragon slayer_. I have killed so many now. So many lives turned to smoke.”

Oh. _Oh._

“There are not many like me,” Levi said anxiously. “Those that are…” He turned his eyes to his hands in his lap. “…good riddance to them.” 

His meaning could not be more plain. Silence settled over them again, and Levi, for the life of him, could not look at Erwin now.

Then Erwin whispered, “I missed you.”

Levi frowned, swallowed. “And I you.”

“I loved you,” Erwin said slowly, and Levi glanced up at him, stunned. “I meant to tell you when I returned and when you were gone, I. I mourned for you.” 

“And now?” Levi rasped, his heart seeming to nearly wrench itself from his chest.

Erwin simply continued to look at him, and _oh_ , it was enough, it was _enough_ for him.

“Come here,” Levi whispered, and Erwin went to him, his hands finding his face, his lips finding his. As he clutched him and tugged him closer, Levi felt like he was transforming again though he was already human — it was as if Erwin drew out every lingering trace of the monster within him, painlessly, _lovingly_ : claws melting between Erwin’s golden silk hair, mouth softening against Erwin’s soft kisses, fire dimmed by Erwin’s whispering sighs, and skin blooming under Erwin’s warm hands. His world had Erwin again, his world _was_ Erwin again, finally.

 _Finally_.

And so his life began anew, again.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The end was unexpectedly sappy even as I wrote it. Hopefully it didn't seem too contrived or overdramatic?
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
